Weekly Writing Check-In: Well This Is Embarrassing

Whoa, where the heck have I been? I admit, I have been so busy with life that I have completely forgotten about blogging! On one hand I don't want this blog turning into nothing but promotions - come to think of it, I have another self-publishing tips post to make - but on the other work keeps me so busy that I often forget about this.

But that means things are chugging along! I said earlier this year that this would be a, well, big year for me. I am making plans to relocate my life elsewhere sometime this summer, which takes time to prepare for. I also have three, yes THREE writing projects going on. Sometimes four at once! It's how I like to work, but it tends to eat up all the hours in the day. By the time I go to bed, there's a bunch of stuff I still haven't done because I got sucked into something. I think most people can relate to this.

Yet I didn't want a WHOLE MONTH to go by without posting anything! Maybe I will diligently post about Camp Nano next month to keep things going. On that note, it's time for me to get back to work! This draft of Nigou isn't going to edit itself! (Man, if only...)

Weekly Writing Check-In: Wow I Suck At This! (Also, Book News)

Hey, remember when I said I was going to go back to doing this every week? Wow, I lied. Apparently.

Quite frankly, I forgot. Lots of personal things going on (nothing terrible, just busy) and I am working as always. Why don't we just skip to that? The big news this week is that I finished the first draft of another novel. That's always a huge relief! On that note, "USOTSUKI." is in ye olde edits, with a tentative release date of February 28th. Hopefully I should be able to shoot a cover reveal to you next weekend!

One thing I have hidden up my sleeve is a response to a lot  of questions  I get from readers regarding my prolific publishing schedule. That will lead into a series of posts these next couple of weeks detailing how I write so much - let alone publish so much. If you're a fellow writer, I hope you'll be able to get some inspiration from it. If you're a reader, I hope it will at least be interesting to look a bit into my process!

That's all for this week. I'm looking at some potential huge life changes in the coming months, which I am really excited about... and has taken over some of my personal time. I'm not going to reveal anything right now until I am sure about it (no, I'm not moving back to Japan, sigh) but I hope it will be good nonetheless!

Have a good week!

Weekly Writing Check-In: The Return

Thought I should bring this back from the blog topic grave. Until a few months ago I used to "check in" every Sunday to talk about how my writing was going. Back then it was mostly a self-motivation type of thing. The more I did it, the less I needed it to be motivated to write. Since doing this full-time it's just become natural for me to write anywhere between 1-3k words a day. (The rest of my work day is editing, outlining, formatting, marketing, etc. as necessary depending on the stage of a story's development.) But I've noticed lately that my blog has become a bit... sparse. Outside of release announcements and sales I don't seem to talk about much anymore. That's mostly because I am usually so focused on work and "real life" that I forget maybe readers want to read other things as well on my blog.

So I think I'll try to start this  up again. Not as a motivator to get me writing, but as a way for me to tell you about my current WIPs.

Right now I am working on what will be the first RR release of the year. Technically it's a part of the RR series, although it doesn't focus on Reina and Aiko as we are all used to. Instead I am letting the minor characters Kaori and Haruka have the whole spotlight by giving them a novel about their entire relationship thus far - from their first meeting until "present day" in the RR universe. That's about three years I am covering in one novel. Right now the thing I am struggling with the most is the pacing - I mean, three years! The longest a RR novel has covered is about a few months. Definitely less than a year. It's a new change of pace I have to plan and write, and I admit it's been a challenge!

The other thing that is new for me is that I am literally rewriting some scenes from SEIKOU and KOIBUMI. Literally. Rewriting. From another character's POV (there's the rub.) This book will cover the breakup that occurs offscreen in SEIKOU, leading Reina and Haruka to first meet. The difference is that I am rewriting it from Haruka's POV! It's both mindnumbingly horrendous and super fun at the same time. I have to find ways to use the same actions and dialogue to give a fresh spin. It's something I've never done before!

All of this, though, is happening while there was a bit of an allergy blitz in my house this week. Our Xmas tree finally bit the dust and released a score of allergens that left me bedridden for a couple of days - massive sore throat, congestion, and terrible fatigue. (Fun fact: I was hospitalized as a small child because of a Christmas tree allergy, so yay!) I've mostly grown out of SEVERE allergies to the, well, world outside (if it has pollen, I am allergic.) But this was so bad that it felt like I was a kid again. So I am  a bit behind right now... but uh, at least I'm caught up in my 3DS games?

I'm gonna take this clear brain of mine and get back to the some serious writing. And some serious Pokemon battling, because my work reward system is totally awesome.

Weekly Writing Check-In: Bunch Of Positivity Coming This Way!

Hot on the heels of the latest book release, I am SO EXCITED to announce two great things coming soon! One thing will be happening this month, and the next will be happening in the coming months! Did I mention I was excited? You should be excited too! (Are you excited? Be excited.)

In writing news, I started a new online job this weekend, and it's going well so far. Hopefully it will take care of some pressing financial matters so I can rest easy with my writing.

Short post is short this week, but that's because I'm just too damn excited to be coherent this week. Stay tuned! First announcement will happen around Wednesday!

Weekly Writing Check-In: Kitty Come Home, Because My Worry Is Keeping Me From Working

Good News This Week: I finished book 5 as planned, and have most off it pre-edited before shipping it off to my editor. Yeah, that's pretty much the only good news this week. Because...

Bad News This Week: My cat (pictured) has been missing since last Saturday. All my worry over her has taken up my creative energy and made it near impossible to work at times. Sigh. Flyers go up tomorrow. (I still have to make them.) Come on cat, get your furry ass home already. Unless one of the nice ladies who power walks every morning decided you were a stray. Then first I need you to bust out of there and get your furry ass home OKAY. I am too optimistic for my own good.

Weekly Writing Check-In: Come Visit Me, Here In My Writing Hole

I'm perfectly aware that I am terrible blogger. Especially now that my life is consumed with work. It's not that I don't have any ideas to blog about, it's, you know, time. Time I don't have right now because OMG you guys, I am so behind my deadline. I was supposed to have Book 5 of RR done by the end of April, aaaaand and extra 10k later I'm sitting here pulling my head out and looking at an all night to possibly finish this damn draft. Possible. I say possibly because if I'm not to the last scene by the time I usually go to bed, I'm not bothering. Can't write when I'm half asleep. Or at least, I can't write anything worth reading.

Wish me luck, y'all. Another novel got away from me and now I'm crying over my keyboard because my fingers are bleeding.

Weekly Writing Check-In: Back From Vacation!

Just popping in to say I returned from vacation today! Had a great time, and was DEFINITELY inspired for some future works. ;) Might do some work tonight, but as far as I am concerned, I'm still on vacation until I wake up tomorrow!

Weekly Writing Check-In: Off On Vacation!

With all the hub-bub over Amazon lately, I'm so, so glad to be taking a vacation up to Portland this week to see some friends! Leaving bright and early at 7am on a bus for an all-day ride, but I am convinced that it will totally be worth it. I'll be popping online every so often if I can, but otherwise it may be hard to reach me. Ah, hopefully I can snag some good pictures for some great blog posts!

See you next Sunday!

Weekly Writing Check-In: Stare Down With Amazon

I forgot to check-in last week, mostly because I was in a flurry with "Kataomoi."'s release. But that doesn't mean OTHER interesting things didn't happen. Ugh, no. Do you know what a writer with two completely SEPARATE pen names fears most? Crossing the streams. Last week I was doing my weekly upload with my erotica pen name and...when it published, it published under my REAL NAME. God, talk about a nightmare! And then when I requested it to be changed (thinking it must've been my error) it STILL REPUBLISHED under my real name! *headdesk* Finally, after 24 hours of fretting and pulling it down, it finally went back up under my pen name. My beautiful, carefully selected pen name.

Ugh.

Then there was the freebie promo that didn't start until six hours after it was supposed to start.

Then there was the cover snafu with Kataomoi that couldn't get fixed fast enough.

Basically, not a good week for me and KDP.

Here's hoping this week is better. I'm one week away from a really great vacation I REALLY need and do not need stress from the self-publishing world Indeed! No stress allowed! It can fall on me after I get back from Portland.

Weekly Writing Check-In: Announcement of Upcoming Promotions

Wooo I was a bad girl this week. You know what's sad? The fact that I have two longish blog posts in draft, but didn't have time to finish or post either of them! Yes, yes, the writing days just get busier. Right now I'm working on three different projects. That seems to be how these things conspire.

All that said, I"ll soon have a series of blog posts lined up for the release of "KATAOMOI." on March 29th! The first post will be the blurb and cover reveal, followed by a series of blog posts about life and pop culture in Japan during the late 90s. One of my favorite eras, so I'm pretty stoked! Hope you'll put up with me while I try to scramble all my drafts together. :P Looking forward to it!

Weekly Writing Check-In: Oops Forgot Another One!

Look at me. I forgot to do a check-in last week. Oops.

Well, not much to talk about. (Wow I'm tired of saying that.) I am currently in the process of uploading story #5 for my pen name. I've decided that my least favorite part of publishing, out of writing/editing/designing,marketing etc, is definitely the blurb. Hate writing blurbs. Haaate. And I always forget to write the blurb until I'm staring at KDP going "....oh." Every week. Without fail. (Please note how I am not running off to write my blurb right now. Oops!)

I will hear back this week on a possible day job. If I get it, it may slightly change my writing schedule. But hopefully not too much. The hours match up right with me and would let me still write at night, which is when I am my happiest. But it may mean a slower update schedule for the pen name so I can continue to put as much energy as possible toward REN'AI RENSAI.

(Does anybody even care about that? =P)

As usual, my check-ins are boring. Tell me something super awesome that happened to you last week. Please. Make this post interesting~

Weekly Writing Check-In: And the band keeps marching on

Yet another week of ups and downs! (Are we shocked? Nope!) On one hand, I saw the highest sales day of my writing career yet on Friday! Any not just on one channel! Europe! Asia! CANADA! Amazon! B&N! Are! Smashwords! FREAKIN' KOBO! (Big deal because I've had ONE sale on Kobo since October. One!) About half of those sales have been from my erotica pen name. Who knew porn moved copies? I know. Breaking ground here.

On the other, things that are completely beyond my control are festering again. People are sick and surprise!bills are popping up. That's life. But it would be nice if for just ONCE I had a little control over it!

I'm in major editing mode again. This weekend alone I've done edits on an erotica piece, the next RR short, AND the next RR novel! (Which I should be working on right now.) Can you believe it's almost March already? I don't know if I'm happy or upset that this year is going by so fast. Guess that's what happens when you do nothing but work and all the days bleed together.

Hope everyone out there is having, at the least, a decent week!

Weekly Writing Check-In: Conventions and More!

The biggest news of the week is, of course, The South Coast Writers Conference I attended yesterday in Gold Beach yesterday. In years past I have written up a blow-by-blow account of the sessions I attended and what I thought overall. This year, not only do I not have the energy or time to do so, but I'm not sure what the point would be. As usual, the conference was great. I had some good fun, talked to some people (I know right! I got out of the house!!!) and overall had a pleasant day doing my writerly thing. It was rather odd talking about my series REN'AI RENSAI out loud, though. Simply because I have never said those words out loud before! Amazing, isn't it? But yes, if you live in the Oregon south coast area, I highly recommend going next year if you have the chance!

Otherwise, things are much the same. My pen name series is doing its job and pulling in most of my income this month! The second book is coming out, oh, tomorrow, so I'm hoping that will really help things take off?

Now I pose a question to you. Have you ever been to a writer's conference? What did you get out of it? Would you go again?

Weekly Writing Check-In: New Pen Name Launch This Week!

Been running in circles all this week as I prepare for my pen name launch, oh, tomorrow! I won't be posting the name of my pen name here at any time. So, if you are interested in raunchy lesbian shorts, please drop me a line somewhere and I'll hook you  up with my pen name's social media so you can follow whichever. New releases will be announced on all of them.

Well, I guess now I don't have to say what my pen name is going to focus on...

That's not the only thing happening this week. This upcoming Saturday is the South Coast Writers Conference. Thanks to my wonderful readers who helped pitch in on Friday, I have been able to order paperbacks in time for the conference! I'm looking forward to a great time and will be sure to write up a report!

Now, back to work! I've got a lot of writing / editing / formatting to do still!

Weekly Writing Check-In: IT'S LIKE RAAAAIIIIN~ ON YOUR WEDDING DAY~

(No, I am not getting married, before the OMFG U STR8 NOW? comments start flooding in~) This week is a rather silly, ironic week. Mainly that this is the week I will officially attempt to reenter the work force in order to pay my monthly loan bills for this degree I just had to have, (That's gotten me super far in life. Mm-hmm. Lost generations, and all that.) I have to do this because, while I'm not making chump change at self-publishing, it's still not enough, and I'm almost all out of savings. I could make thousands of dollars overnight but wouldn't be able to pay bills next month because of the way Amazon delays payments. BUT today I DID wake up to find more sales in the past three days than I ever made in one month last year. Amazon has been nice to me today. Not only did it finally set ROUMAN to perma-free, but it also finally linked up the DAISUKI paperback and kindle versions. Yay! Still, this is Amazon. I don't expect it to last long.

This will also be the week I launch a new (lesbian erotica) pen name, focusing on short and to the point works as opposed to my plot and character driven heavy erotic romances I write under my real name. More on that later as I get closer to the release date of the first work. I still have some tax stuff to talk over with my trust tax lady.

Tomorrow, or possibly Tuesday, I will be unveiling the SUPER SECRET PROJECT I've been working on since December. Ren'Ai Rensai fans should get a huge kick out of it. But that's all I'll say about that for now!

Now excuse me, I have a resume to go brush up.

Weekly Writing Check-In: Prioritizing

I find myself in the really strange place of having SO MUCH to do I'm not sure what order to do it in. Usually, I am great at prioritizing things I have to do so my brain doesn't explode from anxiety, but I think my issue today is that they're all things that have to be done around the same time, and some things I have to wait for approval on, and and and...

Basically, this is what I'm looking at:

• Submit SEIKOU to all retailers at certain times so they'll show up on around the same day. Maybe.
• Continue writing the first draft of Book 4
• Start a short story for my new pen name
• Finish the next RR short
• Work on SUPER SECRET PROJECT
• Futz around with cover mocks for multiple series
• More futzing with paperbacks (Hatsukoi should be out this week!)
• Mail stuff
• Other crap no1curr about.

I've actually managed to get through most of this today, but I'm always in that state of "should I be working on something else first instead? And there's the part where I'm not sure I'm in the mood to write...just watch Japanese dramas...and play Sims...my life.

How y'all doing? Busy this week? NOT busy this week? Maybe it's time to start hiring personal assistants. 

Weekly Writing Check-In: Pratfalls of Pen Names

First of all, I am aware that it's Monday. Oops. Oh well! Better late than never, or so I hear.

Two days ago I received confirmation that I get attend this year's South Coast Writers' Conference next month! Yay! I really need to get out of this house and talk to other people. The fact they're writers will be a bonus. I actually managed to make some nice acquaintances last time two years ago. Hopefully that can be a repeat! I'll be armed with my wares!

Now, onto what my title is about. Recently I've seriously considered starting up a (super secret shhh) pen name for economical reasons. I'm about half committed to this now - I've picked out the name and have started staking claim to twitter, tumblr, etc. just to make sure I've got accounts on the ready. I also need to call up and speak to my tax lady since I will not be publishing these stories under my publishing label, Barachou Press. (Would sort of defeat the HUSH HUSH purpose.) On one hand I'm excited about the new financial possibilities for me, but on the other I wonder about how much time it'll take away from my "real name" and, consequently, REN'AI RENSAI.

Speaking of which, the final draft of Book 3 is on its way. (Expect a reveal soon!) Book 4 is about halfway through the first draft stage. February is going to see a TOTALLY COOK PROJECT YOU GUYS being unveiled, plus a short towards the end of month. Of course, I am excited about all of them. I am expecting Book 3 to really make you FEEL THINGS...whether its rage, sympathy, or inevitably both, who knows. Also, I don't really care. :Db

Back to editing! Got ten more pages to do tonight!

Weekly Writing Check-In: Big Life Changes Are (Perhaps) Afoot

This past week has been an emotional whirlwind for me. On a lark I started applying to day jobs again, not expecting to get anything. Well, unless things start to go seriously south in more ways than one, it looks like I may be moving up to Portland (a seven hour drive from here in lil' ol Curry County, OR) for a full time job. If that comes to pass, it will mean a lot of changes with my publishing business. Mostly, time. Right now I work about 12 hour days on my publishing business. This is how I am able to put out so much so quickly, because I am CONSTANTLY working. I will go from 12 hour days to 2 hour days. Releases will become sparser.

But on the flip side.

I will no longer have to worry about making money with my releases. I can just write what I want and get it out there. Assuming I have the time and energy to do it.

There are a lot of other feelings involved as well. Nothing I really want to get into here because lol no but tl;dr, I just wanna write all day.

That said, I've got another REN'AI RENSAI SHORT coming out tomorrow, and book 3 is in a couple of weeks! Back to work!

Weekly Writing Check-In: Check out the goodies!

They're here! Friday the UPS man showed up with my VistaPrint orders for business cards (just in time for the writer's conference next month!) and REN'AI RENSAI bookmarks! Take a gander, and please excuse the awful glare on the photo. I took about 10 photos in different locations around my house but that was seriously the best I could get.

The business cards came out totally awesome, even if the paper quality is kinda meh and not glossy. I ended up using one of their premade layouts since it fit my needs perfectly. (Look at those flowers and BUTTERFLIES!) The bookmarks were created from scratch and made three apiece on their postcards. Now, the only issue is that I have no idea how to cut them. The only sharp edges in this house are dull scissors and meh knives. My family is convinced I could just use scissors, but I am also convinced that my family is not thinking this through. I will prevail, though!

In other writing news, not much else is going on except massive editing. Starting Tuesday at the latest I will be pulling 5k days in the hopes of getting the first draft of RR 4 finished in a timely manner. Unless it just pisses me off so much  I go NOPE and work on something else. (It'll be coming out the end of March and should be novella length, so I shoooould have time.)

Regardless, one of my goals this month is to do more MARKETING. Which I hate. I hate marketing. But I need to take a couple hours out of my day I would otherwise be fooling around on message boards to actually market my work. Because like as not it's not selling itself and word of mouth only gets me movie money every month. WHELP. This will be fun.

(Those hot bookmarks though.)

Weekly Writing Check-In: More like the yearly check-in.

Good luck with this buddy.

Well, it's that time of year again. You know, the one when the year changes. To a different time. Of year. What?

Looking back on 2012, I'm not quite sure what to think. I completed another round of living in Japan and moved back to America...in to my old bedroom in my parents' house. I spent the past 8 months barely leaving the house (or getting dressed! Woo!) and writing a bunch of lesbian romance. BUT! I did publish that lesbian romance! I am officially a published author! I'm halfway to my dream! (Which is making a living off writing.) So there is that, for which I am very grateful.


I have a lot of aspirations for 2013, but of course there is the fear that none of it will happen. Since graduating university, I have been in this hell of not knowing where I'll be in a year or even six months. I don't like that. I like security. I like knowing everything will be (relatively) all right. I haven't had that sort of comfort in years, and I'd really like to get it back again.

Of course, my main aspiration for 2013 is to make a living off my writing. By "living" I would be ecstatic with just covering my debt payments every month. Let's just say I'm about 1/20th of the way there. (Wooooo.) Otherwise, 2013 will be a lot more writing and publishing. The first half is mostly REN'AI RENSAI releases with a spinoff occurring around spring. I also have a SPECIAL PROJECT coming out in January that I'm about halfway finished with.

I try to remain hopeful about the future, but recent fiscally related panic attacks are not helping. Still, here's to 2013 not sucking!

Any good resolutions out there?